Windshield Repair Forum

I read on this forum some time ago that to repair large surface damage
you could use a pit filler to fill the surface, cure it and then drill a new hole and fill it. I ran into this situation yesterday and the customer was insistant to repair it rather than replace , even after i explained that the resulting finish may not be pretty! So I filled the surface ,cured it and polished the surface smooth,drilled a new hole near bottom and filled the remaining break from there. Worked awesome! Thanks DK for the info! I sent pics of the damaged glass to Jeff and you can see them when they are posted.

The customer was very pleased and so was I.

I am glad to see that those of us that post on this forum are not wasting our time. Keep on reading and practising the tips we all list.

I actually used the same idea on a half dollar sized combo break with about 12 3/4" cracks on a miata. It worked but the results were not extremely beautiful due to the large crushed glass part at the impact. I am glad to have tried this and it worked good. Customer was very happy and I got a $10.00 tip . I don't know if I would have ever tried that without having read it here. Thanks for the great tips guys and gals.

Jeff

you could use a pit filler to fill the surface, cure it and then drill a new hole and fill it. I ran into this situation yesterday and the customer was insistant to repair it rather than replace , even after i explained that the resulting finish may not be pretty! So I filled the surface ,cured it and polished the surface smooth,drilled a new hole near bottom and filled the remaining break from there. Worked awesome

I have on many ocassions where this menthod does not work for me. It really is frustrating when it happens. So, i go one step further by popping a minibulls eye and yes it always works for me now. Thought i share this one.

I have seen some repairs made like this. I used to use this technique years ago. But the repairs made by others (Safelite repairmen) I have seen, after a year or two have turned brown, shrunk and even fell out. Has anyone else seen this after effect? Mine may have done the same. I just haven't seen any of my old repairs.

The most possible reason for this happening would be bad resin not technique. What alternative technique do you now use on damage where the pit is too big for the injector?

Please, i thank everybody in this great Forum, may i use this opportunity to ask a brief question.How would you look at the customer when he says,i will not pay you! just because the appearance of the windshield is not up to 60%

Thank you all:

Iwould not consider charging the customer if there was only a 60% improvement.

Daniel,
If the finished repair is not up to 60% you must brief the customer before you start, on what is the most likely outcome of the repair and gain agreement from the customer so their expectations will be met. Not only has the customer refused to pay you but the long term damage is the customer telling other people that a) you are not a good repairer and b) repairing damage is not good. A quality job is doing something that meets the customers expectation 100% or more. You only have the opportunity to influence the customers expectation at the beginning.

Screenman and Glasseye are right. I always tell my customers how I think the repair will turn out. Many times on a severe damage I tell them I don't think it will be pretty due to the extreme crushing of the impact point and the many many cracks inside, this way they are prepared and most of the time very very happy when I am done. If the repair was not up to their standards then I would not insist on payment that would make you and the business look bad. The actual cost to repair a chip is small it is mostly just time and sometimes gas. Good luck

Jeff